


About Damn Time

by Almaren



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, M/M, Winteriron Holiday Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-08 13:53:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5499527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Almaren/pseuds/Almaren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So maybe Tony had developed a massive crush on his neighbor ever since the guy had moved in five months ago. They guy was obviously dating his blonde Adonis of a roommate, so Tony's crush was totally pointless... right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	About Damn Time

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the WinterIron Holiday Exchange, for the lovely [Lovesmoakingarrow](http://lovesmoakingarrow.tumblr.com/)
> 
> I hope you like it!

“Why the fuck would anyone ever willingly live on the sixth floor of a building without a working elevator?” Tony grumbled as he climbed up the fourth flight of stairs of his building. His fingers were starting to go numb, the weight of a thousand shopping bags cutting off his circulation. He tried to console himself by the reminder that there were only two flights left, but the thought didn’t even come close to helping. 

“This is the sixth time this fucking month that the stupid elevator has broken, this is ridiculous, I don’t pay an astronomical amount of money to have to climb stairs every damn day,” Tony continued to complain to himself as he started the fifth flight. Tony knew he was in fairly decent shape, but he was getting slightly out of breath. And he could swear that he had more bags now than he did at the bottom of the stairs. 

A few minutes and lots of muttered swearing about broken elevators and proliferating shopping bags later, Tony was halfway up the sixth set of stairs. His monologue –mostly internal now, in an attempt to keep himself breathing- was cut off when he heard a pounding from above him. He glanced up above him, where he could see the two doors that led to the two apartments on the top floor of the building. His was on the right; right at the top of the stairs, and his neighbors was about ten feet across the ‘hall’, which was just the open space at the top of the stupid staircase. 

Between the guardrails, he could see the top half of one of his neighbors, and Tony gulped slightly. It’s not that Tony was shy or anything of that nature, but Bucky was beyond hot. He was the epitome of every ‘tall, dark and mysterious’ cliché ever thought, and the prosthetic arm somehow only added to his attractiveness. 

So maybe Tony had developed a massive crush on his neighbor ever since the guy had moved in five months ago. A crush so massive that all of his friends made fun of him constantly, and Bruce was threatening to shove Tony under a bus the next time he mentioned how he’d like to bite Bucky’s ass while they were having lunch. And maybe he talked about Bucky way more than he should, considering he had only ever said about two words to the guy, and he went brain dead every time Bucky so much looked at him. 

Yeah. He was fucked. 

Tony swallowed, and kept heading up the stairs, slightly disappointed that Bucky didn’t turn to look at him, so that he’d have some excuse to say hi. But he could say it anyway, right? It was totally okay to say hi to your neighbors, even if they didn’t make eye contact first, right? Sometimes Tony really wished that interacting with people came with a guidebook, maybe then he wouldn’t stick in his foot in his mouth all the damn time. 

Tony stepped up onto the hall in front of his door, metaphorically reached down and grabbed his balls, and opened his mouth for a casual “Hey Bucky, what’s up?” Then the door to Bucky’s apartment, the door he had been banging on for the past few minutes, swung open, and Tony’s mouth snapped shut as he remembered why exactly his crush on Bucky was even more hopeless than it should have been. 

Tony’s other neighbor- Bucky’s roommate- pulled the door open and leaned against the frame wearing absolutely nothing but the grin on his face. He held a towel in front of him that barely did anything to cover up his dick and absolutely nothing to cover up the fact that he was fucking gorgeous. If you go for the muscle bound, blonde haired, all American boy next door type, that is. 

Personally, Tony thought Bucky was much hotter. 

Even Tony couldn’t deny that Steve was beyond handsome though. And he kind of hated the other man for it a bit. He hated him more for the laugh that came from Bucky’s mouth as the man shook his head slightly. Tony didn’t have a view of Bucky’s face, as the man was still facing away, but he could only imagine the smile. 

Steve gave a grin back to Bucky, greeting him cheerfully as if nothing at all was out of place. Bucky muttered something back that Tony couldn’t hear, before Steve stepped back and pulled his roommate into their apartment, wrapping a muscled arm around Bucky’s shoulder’s briefly as he ushered him in. Steve lingered a moment, just long enough to glance across the small hall to Tony. He smirked and winked at Tony, before turning and heading into his apartment, apparently not even caring about the view Tony got of his ass crack. 

Tony slammed his door behind him as he walked into his own apartment. Flipping the deadbolt behind him, he flopped down onto his ugly blue couch tiredly. Of all the guys in the world that he could have crushed on, he had to pick the guy that was not only way out of his league, but had an Adonis of a boyfriend, and apparently a perfect relationship by everything Tony had seen. 

He didn’t have a chance in hell. 

******

A few days after the whole ‘I-saw-way-more-of-my-neighbor-than-I-wanted-and-why-couldn’t-it-have-been-the-hot-one-who-was-naked’ incident, Tony had done his very best to put the entire thing out of his mind. With some success, he was a genius after all. He already knew his crush on Bucky wasn’t going to go anywhere, he’d been crushing on the dude nonstop for five months, and it was time to get over it. 

Mind made up, Tony laced up his shoes to head out to the lab he worked in to do some late night mechanical wizardry. Somehow, he always created his best shit at night. Thankfully, he owned the company, so no one could tell him not to come in at half past fuck in the morning. He pulled open his front door, ready to go and tackle the shit out of some engineering, and came to a dead stop in order to keep from bumping straight into Bucky. 

Bucky and Steve were coming up the stairs together, giggling and obviously more than a little tipsy. Steve had his arm tucked around Bucky’s shoulder, and Bucky was leaning into the blonde’s side, a huge grin on his face. He turned the grin on Tony for a second as he noticed the door being pulled open, and he and Steve both called out greetings. Tony smiled back politely, even as he felt his stomach drop at the sight of Bucky in Steve’s arms.

They stumbled across the hall and Bucky leaned against the wall while Steve hunted for his keys. Bucky was still giggling over something, and Tony couldn’t help but stare. The man was usually fairly serious looking, broody almost. With a smile stretched across his face and his dark hair falling into his eyes, he was damn near magnetic, and Tony’s thoughts about getting over him were quickly being trampled to death by the cartoon hearts that he could practically feel circling over his head. 

Steve pulled the door open, and Bucky turned away to stumble into his apartment. Tony quickly pulled his door shut behind him, trying to make it look as though he hadn’t just been awkwardly staring at his neighbors. He heard Steve call a laughing ‘bye’ over his shoulder, and managed to stutter one back. 

How the hell did he manage to get such a big crush on this guy?

He turned and locked his door, and determinedly ignored the laughter coming from behind the door across the hall as he started down the stairs. As Tony trudged down, he struggled to bring back the resolve he had earlier. He was a man in his thirties, for Pete’s sake, not a teenage girl with a crush. He was more than capable of pushing aside this stupid feeling and resuming his normal life. It’s not like he was in love with the guy. He barely knew Bucky, Tony knew that there was no logical way that he could be in love with him. It was just infatuation. 

He pushed his way through the front door of his building, gasping as the cold hit him in the face, and headed down the street, determined to get over Bucky. 

******

A few more weeks passed by, and Tony’s resolve went and shot itself each time he saw Bucky again. No matter what he did, he couldn’t get this stupid crush out of his system. He was trying his best not to dwell on it, according to his friend Bruce’s advice, but it wasn’t like he had just a whole lot else going on in his life outside of work. 

Maybe he should just tell the guy already. 

Sprawled out on his couch, Tony mulled the thought over as he nursed his beer. It was a legitimate thought, scientifically speaking. Even though he knew Bucky was in a relationship, maybe actually hearing the rejection would convince his stupid brain that the infatuation was useless, and would free him to move on? Of course, the downside to that would be that Bucky could think he was a creepy stalker person, and considering Tony had to live next to the dude, that wasn’t exactly the message he wanted to send. 

Not that he had been anywhere close to suave around Bucky anyway. And what was up with that? Tony’s had crushes before, on men and women, but he’d never lost his ability to talk correctly without making a dumbass out of himself over someone before. Not to mention the fact that just the day before, he had actually tripped going up the stairs when Bucky came out of his apartment shirtless. 

Bucky had barely even laughed, which was more than Tony could say for a lot of the people he knew. Bucky had tried to hide his amusement, real concern seeping though as he asked if Tony was okay, even going as far as helping him up and helping pick up his things. Tony had barely been able to answer, and he was sure that he had made an even bigger ass out of himself. 

Maybe Bucky was a succubus, Tony mused as he took a drink. That would explain the way Tony was so drawn to him, and the way he couldn’t think around him. Bucky’s evil sex powers were trying to lure him in, waiting until he’d admit his undying love for Bucky so that he could swoop in and suck out Tony’s soul. 

Or maybe he just needed to stop watching trashy TV. 

Tony’s inner rambling was stopped when a knock sounded over the noise coming from the TV he wasn’t watching. Frowning, he sat his beer down on the coffee table and grabbed his phone to check his messages, it wouldn’t be the first time Bruce had texted him to ask if he could come over and then just showed up, knowing how horrible Tony was at checking his phone. He didn’t have any new messages though, besides a Twitter notification. 

The knock came again, and Tony stood up finally and headed to the door to see who the hell could be knocking at nearly ten at night if it wasn’t Bruce. Not that ten was late, at least for Tony, but he knew most people considered it rude to knock on people’s doors after a certain time. 

Pushing aside his random thoughts, Tony pulled the door open. Bucky’s smiling face looked back at him, and Tony just barely managed to resist slamming the door in his face in a panic. His fingers gripped the door tighter as he managed to open his mouth to greet his neighbor.

“Bucky. Um, hi. Hello. What’s up?” Tony barely resisted the urge to smack himself. Why couldn’t he at least talk like a functional human being in front this man?

Bucky’s smile turned slightly sheepish. “Well, you see, I just came home from work, and apparently Steve’s got some… company, and the guy hasn’t gotten laid in like two years, I can’t ruin that for him. But my phone’s in my apartment, and my keys, and I can’t call anyone to come get me, and my friend’s house is too far to walk. So I was hoping I could maybe use your phone?”

Tony was silent for a minute, digesting that. In typical fashion, he blurted out the part that stood out to him. “But I thought… You and Steve aren’t… you know?”

“What? No, definitely not. Steve’s great, but he’s like my brother, and he’s into the ladies anyway,” Bucky laughed. He leaned against Tony’s doorframe, grinning down at the other man. 

Out of the burial ground of Tony’s mind, he felt his hopes suddenly peek up out of the dirt, daring to wonder if maybe he stood a chance after all. “Oh. That’s… yeah. Cool.”

Tony paused, staring at Bucky stupidly, before remembering the other’s request. “Oh! Phone, right. Come in, if you want to.”

Walking back to the coffee table where his phone still sat, Tony barely managed to keep the dopey grin from his face as he heard Bucky step into the apartment and shut the door behind him. So hey, Bucky may not actually be here for him, but he was unattached and in his apartment and that was way further than Tony had ever thought he’d get. 

Grabbing his phone, Tony turned to give it to Bucky. Bucky took it from him with a quiet thank you as he began to dial a number apparently from heart- and just who the hell memorized numbers these days, anyway? Tony shook his head slightly, stepping into his kitchen to give Bucky a semblance of privacy. Considering his open floor plan and how small his apartment was, he was only about ten feet from Bucky, but he was sure it was the thought that counted. Besides, it was slightly less creepy to stare at him when Tony’s breakfast bar was in between them anyway. 

Bucky had the phone to his ear, and Tony quickly realized that stepping into the other room was a moot point, considering that Bucky’s conversation was completely in Russian. Tony knew a few words of the language thanks to an old college friend of his, but nothing that any polite person would say in conversation, and nothing that could help him understand Bucky now. 

He could tell that Bucky was getting aggravated though. The man was scowling impressively as he toed Tony’s wood floor, his voice rising slightly. The conversation was short, though, and Bucky sounded upset when he ended it. He stood glaring down at the phone for a minute before turning to give it back to Tony.

“Natasha can’t come and get me for a few hours. And I don’t know anyone else’s numbers by heart,” Bucky sighed, leaning on the other side of Tony’s counter. He braced himself on his right elbow, looking dejected. “I guess… I guess I’ll have to try and walk it. It’s only a few miles, and I know where she keeps her key.”

With that, Bucky stood up straight again, giving Tony a rueful smile. “Thanks for letting me use your phone and all. It was sweet of you.”

Tony frowned at Bucky apparently getting ready to leave his apartment. His mouth opened before he could think twice about it. “Wait, you’re going to walk there? It’s like, freezing out man. You’ll get frostbite before you make the block.”

Bucky shrugged slightly. “There’s not much else I can do, is there? I can’t ruin Steve’s night, but he’d never forgive me if I just spent the night in the hallway or some shit.”

“Stay here,” Tony blurted. 

“What?” Bucky asked in surprise, raising his eyebrows at Tony.

Tony shrugged. “I’m not letting you walk that far in this crap. I’ve got plenty of space, just stay here. I could use the company for a night.”

Bucky hesitated, obviously unsure about encroaching on Tony’s private space. The idea of having to walk to Natasha’s seemed like torture, though, and since Tony did offer… Bucky nodded slowly, a smile on his face. “Sure, if you don’t mind. I wouldn’t mind getting to know you a bit better, I’ve lived next to you for nearly half a year and I don’t know hardly anything about you.”

Tony couldn’t help the excited grin that spread over his face. “And apparently, the one thing I thought I knew about you is wrong. So getting to know each other sounds good. You want a drink?”

As Tony turned towards the fridge to get them both a beer, he thought about this new development. So the cute, apparently single neighbor he had a crush on was going to stay with him for the night. Maybe he’d find out that Bucky was a total asshole and lose the crush entirely? Or maybe, Tony thought as he handed Bucky his beer and saw the small smile on the other man’s face, he was in even more shit than he thought. So much for his resolve to get over Bucky- how could he get over that smile?

A few hours later found them on the couch, beers all but forgotten as they exchanged story after story of their lives. They got along phenomenally; they both had the same sarcastic, somewhat dark and simultaneously childish sense of humor. Bucky loved the stories of the pranks Tony had pulled on his coworkers, even making Tony promise to help him pull a few on Steve. And Tony had nearly pissed himself laughing as Bucky recounted the time that Steve had made the mistake of asking Bucky to ‘give him a hand’ and Bucky had chunked his prosthetic arm at him and given him a black eye. 

They talked well into the night, until finally, somewhere during the third Lord of the Rings movie and yet another epic tale, they fell asleep. 

******

Tony’s first thought was that he really, really didn’t want to move. His eyes still closed, he snuggled closer to the warmth underneath him, determined to go back to sleep. He hadn’t woken up this comfortable in years, with a blanket wrapped around him, and a firm, warm pillow underneath him, slowly moving his head up and down. He snuggled in closer, wanting more of the warmth, and a smile slipped over his face as the arm around his waist tightened. Then his pillow started laughing softly, the movement bouncing Tony’s head even more. 

Frowning, Tony lifted his head and looked up. Bucky’s smiling face greeted him, and Tony froze. Bucky lifted his hand from Tony’s waist to rub at his eyes as he mumbled “good morning.”

“Morning,” Tony managed, realizing slowly that he had been asleep on top of Bucky. And he was still laying on top of Bucky, barely any room separating their chests as Tony stared at the other man’s face. Blushing hard at the realization, Tony started to sit up quickly. 

Bucky sat up as well, rolling his neck and stretching his back obviously sore from Tony’s couch. Tony felt a pang of guilt. 

“Sorry for falling asleep on you,” Tony said, then paused and added “literally.”

Bucky shrugged with a grin on his face. “Nah, it’s cool. My neck hurts a bit, but I haven’t slept that good in months, actually. You make a good blanket.”

“You make a good bed,” Tony smiled back, happy that at least Bucky didn’t seem to mind the closeness of their sleeping position. And thankfully, nothing even more awkward had ‘come up’ during the night, so there was nothing to worry about. Except for the fact that now he had the knowledge of how it felt to wake up with Bucky’s chest under his cheek, and the way he smelled, and how the hell was he supposed to go back to being neighbors after that?

Maybe Bucky was a succubus, Tony’s mind wondered. No human being could smell that good. 

Bucky’s voice broke in before that train of thought could be continued, thankfully. “Well, we make a good team then, don’t we?”

Tony chuckled. “We sure do. How about some breakfast? I don’t know what time Steve’s girl is gunna leave… I don’t even know what time it is, actually. But I do know I’m hungry.”

“Breakfast sounds fantastic,” Bucky smiled, following Tony up off the couch and into the kitchen. “Just don’t expect much help from me. I was shit in the kitchen even before I lost my arm.”

“I’m not that great either, but I can at least make us some eggs,” Tony moved to the refrigerator. Looking inside, he frowned. “Or I could if I actually had eggs.” 

Bucky laughed loudly. “Well, guess no eggs then. That little diner down the block has really good breakfast, we could go there and neither of us has to cook? You’ll have to pay though, cause my wallets in my apartment. I swear I’ll pay you back though.”

Tony let the fridge door swing shut and turned to face Bucky, standing there with a totally innocent smile on his face. He couldn’t help but laugh. “Seriously? You went to work and left your keys, phone, and your wallet at home? Have you forgotten anything else?”

“I think I left my arm somewhere?” Bucky tried to keep a straight face as he moved what was left of his left arm, having taken the prosthetic off during the night, but he couldn’t help the grin that came over his face. 

Tony burst out laughing. “That was awful!” 

“Hey, I work with what I got,” Bucky smirked. “So, diner? Food? I’m hungry.”

“Yeah, diner sounds good,” Tony agreed when he managed to calm down. “Let me make sure I get my wallet, though, or we’re gunna end up washing dishes.” 

Tony changed into fresh clothes quickly. His clothes were on the small side for Bucky, so he chose to stay in what he had worn the day before. Making doubly sure he had his wallet and keys- he didn’t want Bucky’s forgetfulness to wear off on him- they headed towards the door. 

Pulling the door open, Tony stepped out just in time to see a brunette woman disappearing down the stairs. Steve was across the hall, looking down over the banister at her, dressed in nothing but his boxers, which was at least an improvement over naked. He glanced over at Tony’s door, and a huge grin spread over his face as he saw Bucky coming out behind Tony. 

“Well it’s about damn time! Guess we both got lucky, huh Buck?” Steve addressed his friend cheerfully. He turned to Tony, “This is fantastic! All I’ve heard about for months is what a cute ass the dude across the hall has, I’ve been telling him to talk to you for ages now.”

“Steve!” Bucky practically yelled, his face bright red when Tony turned to look at him. He didn’t meet Tony’s gaze, instead glaring daggers at his roommate. “Seriously, shut up! I just spent the night, it wasn’t like that.”

Realization spread over Steve’s face as he took in the bright red faces of the two men standing across from him. He nodded slowly, and started backing towards his door. “Oh. Well. I should probably get dressed now.” 

“Steve!” Bucky yelled, anger tinting his voice, but Steve had already slammed the door behind him, and the sound of the lock turning sounded damn near like a gunshot- or Tony imagined it did, anyway. 

Slowly, he looked away from the door back to Bucky, who was still glaring at the door as if the wood would melt under the power of his gaze. Tony swallowed, thinking over the past few minutes, hope blooming in his chest as he thought about what Steve had said. “So. Cute ass, huh?”

He wasn’t sure it was possible, but Bucky’s face actually turned redder at Tony’s question. He glanced at Tony, ducking his head so his hair was obscuring his face some. He took a breath, obviously working up the nerve to answer, looking away again as he did. “Very cute.” 

“Well then,” Tony said softly, a small smile on his face. “Maybe I can still take you out for breakfast? And then maybe dinner later on?”

Bucky’s gaze snapped back to him. “Are you asking me on a date?”

Tony nodded shyly, “I kind of have been irrationally jealous of Steve the past few months because I thought you two were dating.”

Bucky couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him. “Yeah. Date sounds good.”

“Good,” Tony answered, smiling. He turned towards the stairs slowly. “Let’s head to the diner?”

“Yeah. But first..” Bucky stepped up to Tony slowly, so there was only a bit of space between them. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for months, Tony.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” Tony challenged, and a second later Bucky’s lips were on his. Tony’s hands automatically came up to Bucky’s shoulders, kissing back in what had to be the best first kiss of his life. 

Bucky might be a succubus after all, Tony thought. But fuck if he cared.


End file.
